​​​“She was actually online looking up ways to end her life.”

Sometimes, a friendly, nonjudgmental voice can be the difference between utter despair and a glimmer of hope. And hope is exactly what thousands of people each year find when they call the Boys Town National Hotline. Our counselors are here to address issues ranging from bullying and family problems to substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.

The Boys Town National Hotline is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is staffed by specially trained Boys Town counselors who are accredited by the American Association of Suicidiology (AAS).

If you or ​someone you love is in trouble and can’t see a way out, call now. We’re here to help.

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Female 1: Our counselors are the unsung heroes of the Boys Town National Hotline. A person has to have the ability to talk to somebody that has lost all hope to live. They have to have the ability to form a connection.

Female 2: Building a connection, I think, is the most important thing. A lot of these callers don't know who to turn to or where to go. And so building that connection and letting them know, "This is a trusted source, and we're gonna work as a team to get you through this hard moment."

Male 1: We're really a special group of people. We're all people that care. We're all people that wanna help. But we do this because we wanna see the world a better place, one person at a time. We wanna teach that person to make it through to tomorrow. At its most basic, we help everyone. We try to help anyone that needs just a little extra support along the way, whether it's a parent that feels they lost control of their kids, or a teenager that feels that there is nothing left to live for.

Female 3: We're talking to people over chat, text, email, and phone calls. And between all those different ways of communicating with people, we deal with all sorts of situations: abuse, neglect, depression, alcoholism, bullying, suicidal thoughts, self-injury.

Female 4: Other than people calling in and reaching out to our hotline, we're able to go out to the schools in the Omaha surrounding areas, Bellevue, and Millard area. And we go into the classroom and we talk to kids about coping through the teenage years, because we know that the teenage years are the toughest part of a kid's life.

Female 3: Recently I did have a gentleman with a gun to his head, and that was a very intense call. When we get really intense, suicidal calls, it can be really intense for the counselor. Your heart can beat really fast, but in that moment you need to take a deep breath and say a prayer, and get ready to bring the calm into that person's life, because they desperately need it.

Female 5: The individual I was speaking with, she seemed to be in that crisis mode where she had actually been online looking up ways to end your life. She said that she saw this number and decided to call, you know, instead of actually acting on it again like she had previously, you know? She had such a change of heart at the end of the call, you know? Like, she was frantic, crying at the beginning of the call. And then towards the end, it really calmed down, and it, you know, spiraled down to where she was open to counseling and she seemed to also be willing to, you know, reach out if she needed that help again. She said, "You know, you saved my life today." And that was something, like...

Female 5: Sorry. You know, you get sometimes wrapped up into the calls. And, you hear somebody say that and sometimes you forget that you're actually doing that type of a job, like, really making a difference for these people. And I don't know, it just felt really privileged to be able to do something like this for people.

Boys Town is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit recognized by the IRS, and all donations to Boys Town are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations. Boys Town follows a policy of non-discrimination in accordance with the law.